Thingamabobs

EVENTS

Dublin, here I come!

It’s official: I’ll be heading to Dublin this summer! Woooo! I’ll be giving a poster presentation at the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2012 conference, which is in Dublin from Saturday, June 23 to Tuesday, June 26. I’m really looking forward to it. A lot of people from my department are going, including my boyfriend Sean (who was selected to give a talk!).

Sean and I arrive in Dublin around noon on Thursday the 21st, so we’ll have a couple of day to explore the city. Any suggestions? Do I have any readers in Dublin who would want to do a meetup on this rare occasion that I’m across the pond? Do you have local skeptics or atheist groups that would want to have me talk for an evening?

We’re also taking an extra week off after the conference for a vacation. I think our eyes are set on Paris, but nothing is set in stone yet. Now’s your time to throw suggestions my way.

Hey Jen … I live in Dublin and I’m a big fan of the blog :D … I could put together a list of interesting sights, you could contact ‘Atheist Ireland’ (Atheist.ie) … They have regular speakers … I’ll actually contact them as well … It would be great to hear you give a talk :D

Michael Agent is the man, the atheist man, in Dublin.
Paris is overrated, and not as Hollywood would have you believe, and itcs full of Parisians, even the French hate the Parisians!
London will be great because I’ll be there working on the Olympics, but Amsterdam is a lovely city, and I can recommend Berlin, Munich, Barcelona……… aww shit, the list is too long.

I am the organiser of the Dublin Skeptics in the Pub and would be delighted to host a talk if you’d like to give one to us humble Irish skeptics! I’d be delighted.
It’s Mick Nugent that is the head of Atheist Ireland but I can but you in contact with the relevant guys there if you like.

I also work in the Natural History Museum, so a personal tour of the museum is part of the package :)

You might enjoy the bog bodies exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland. I’m assuming it’s still on display. Ireland is gorgeous–I spent two weeks there in 2009, and I wish it could have been more time.

The west of Ireland is always interesting.
You will find yourself in another world — an old world, where most folks are Roman Catholics, but some follow the old path.
It might interest you to see how they live in today’s world, while still honoring the past.

A few areas in the west still have significant numbers of first language Irish speakers. That’s one thing I want to experience some day. Go to the Gaelteacht, and hear the language spoken in a natural setting.

I’m Irish and I lived in Dublin for a couple of years so I can point you to some of the must-sees. Well Trinity College seems the obvious place to start. Then you can go to St. Stephens Green (via Grafton Street, some good stores there but Dublin is one of the most expensive cities in Europe, for dining out also). You should pass by the statue of Molly Malone going that way.

Or you can head in the other direction and go to O’Connell Bridge and checkout the G.P.O., not much to it apart from the historic aspect. The Abbey Theatre is also in that general area, so you may want to see what show is on that weekend.

There are also amphibious bus tours of the city, I think they’re called Viking Splash Tours or something similar.

As far as Ireland goes head over to the west coast, it’s beautiful, if you come to Britain, avoid London, it’s one of the most awful places on earth, there are much nicer cities, Edinburgh, Brighton, bath, Canterbury, York, in fact the whole of Yorkshire is awesome, have fish and chips on the beach in Whitby! Cornwall is nice too, v different from the rest of Britain, especially in the far west, if you go to France in my experience the people are nicer the further south you go, Paris is like London but it’s ok to pee in the street. The Swiss alps are beautiful at any time of year (don’t forget you need Swiss francs not euros if you go there), Dubrovnik in Croatia is pretty and they do amazing pizza, Slovenia is alpine but on the sunny side, Amsterdam is ok but you’ll have to sift through weed, hookers and stag parties (Brits abroad WOOOAAAY!) to find anything half sensible to do!

London is like any big city, nice to visit, just so you can say you’ve been there, but not MY idea of a place to live, but I’m a confirmed country boy! I’ve visited many cities, they all have the same problem, too many people squeezed into too small an area, I always wanted to go to Hong Kong, I had hoped that Betty Windsor would send me there, but in the end I paid for my own travel, and I hated the place, smog, overcrowding, being harassed by traders, but I don’t regret the experience.

Nairobi was another place I didn’t like too much, but I’m glad I spent some time there, and I’m equally glad someone else paid for the trip. Amsterdam isn’t all about hookers, you have to seek out the red light district, and plenty of people do that, just for the experience, there are more sightseers than punters (So I’m told!!!!), and for a visitor, even one from so close, the culture is so very different, and well worth experiencing.

Even the negative aspects are worth experiencing, it helps you to appreciate home, broadens your horizons and outlook on life, so do it just for the experience.

Guinness tour, Jameson tour, Trinity college book of Kells worth a look and see the long gallery ripped off by star wars :). Botanic gardens has benifitted hugely from one Bertie Ahern as such lovely for a walk about. The viking tour is worth while, Dublin castle. You can walk to most of the above from the city centre. Croake park see if you can get a ticket for a hurling match. If not the GAA museum is worht a look.
Worth a look is glendalough, monastic tourist trap with fantastic hiking you might just get one of our rare sunny days in which case it is really has spectacular views.
Cost wise shop around there are some great deals from hotels on the edge of dublin that are near good bus and luas lines.
Foodwise there are some good places to eat but it can be expensive in the city centre.
Avoid temple bar at night, it’s lovely during the day just a little messy at night.

Paris is totally overrated (ok, it is pretty, but it’s also packed with tourists in the summer so you’re way better off waiting until the off season to see it properly).

Instead, since you’re both poor grad students, why don’t you head east, where the sights are just as pretty, but everything is cheaper? Prague is gorgeous (though not as cheap anymore), Krakow (where I live and would gladly buy you a huge Polish beer or three) is even more gorgeous, less crowded, and full of history. I also suggest Warsaw, Budapest, or anywhere in Croatia if you like beaches but don’t want to overpay in Italy or southern France.

Dubliner here! The Chester Beatty Library is full of gorgeous art and manuscripts, especially East Asian, Arabic, and religious (but don’t let that stop you:) ). The way to it also takes you through Dublin Castle.
Check out Crackbird nearby on Dame Street if you like chicken (you kinda have to like chicken…). They also sell you beers in four-packs, my kind of place.

I second the National Musem for the bog bodies (Kildare Street branch) and a wander around Trinity is always nice though for the price the Book of Kells is overrated.

Paris is lovely but could be hot and packed with (fellow) tourists in June – given the time you have I’d either stay in Ireland and drive west (Connemara, Galway city, surfing in Lahinch) or north (Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway, Bushmills factory, Derry, Inishowen) or fly somewhere like Edinburgh. Alternatively, I haven’t been there myself yet but I hear great things about Croatia, especially the islands.

Everyone is giving great advice on what to do in Dublin, so I’ll just add: I live in Galway, in the West, but I will TOTALLY come to a meet-up in Dublin. (I’m always happy to have an excuse to visit Dublin, anyway.) Galway has an occasional Skeptics in the Pub, as well, if you make it to this side!